How to develop cheaply for iOS?

[Yaron 53]

I want to port my app to iOS, but the up-front financial requirements seem to be quite high.

 

After doing some research on the web, it seems it may there may be alternatives to purchasing an iMac computer (like running in a virtual machine instead of actual hardware).

 

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Can anyone recommend the cheapest iOS development route using Delphi 10.3?

 

[Markus Kinzler 174]

Where are severall offers for virtual macs (in cloud):

 

https://portal.macincloud.com/select/#/plans

 

https://xcloud.me/#pricing

 

http://hosting.de.inter.net/mac-server-hosting/

[Sherlock 663]

For a start this should be right for you: https://www.macincloud.com/

Later on you may find that a Mac Mini for 900€ is not half bad. It can be put in some rack or closet and just host your PAServer, or you can use it work with and host a windows VM.

 

[Yaron 53]

But how do you apply it to use with Delphi which in the docs says that the PAserver needs to be in a local network?

 

Is there some help/docs on Delphi integration with such services for iOS development?

[Dave Nottage 557]

 

4 hours ago, Sherlock said:

Later on you may find that a Mac Mini for 900€ is not half bad

..or a refurbished model (including iMac or Macbook); preferably no earlier than 2013 to ensure that it'll run Mojave.

[pcplayer99 11]

Maybe a Windows Host and a Virtual machine with iMac ?

[Markus Kinzler 174]

Apple doesn't allow that.

[Sherlock 663]

15 hours ago, Yaron said:

But how do you apply it to use with Delphi which in the docs says that the PAserver needs to be in a local network?

 

Is there some help/docs on Delphi integration with such services for iOS development?

This is very old, but should still be valid (at least the connection part):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORe2voUHIU

Please note that the prices may be outdated. And a first glance showed, they have an XE8 PAServer preinstalled, nothing newer.

[Dalija Prasnikar 1396]

Any 2014 Mac Mini will do. You can even use older ones, but they will be obsolete sooner.

 

Since, Apple just updated Minis with brand new line, older models are having action sales

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-1-4GHz-Silver-MGEM2LL-Version/dp/B00746X7G2

[Rollo62 536]

There had been Rumors around that new MacMinis wouldnt be IntelBased, but Arm64.

Havent checked that recently, but if so it might cause issues with FMX in General.

I would check compatibility  before if I consider Mac Mini.

[Dalija Prasnikar 1396]

35 minutes ago, Rollo62 said:

There had been Rumors around that new MacMinis wouldnt be IntelBased, but Arm64.

Havent checked that recently, but if so it might cause issues with FMX in General.

I would check compatibility  before if I consider Mac Mini.

Just released Mac Mini 2018 versions are all Intel based. No worries for now. But 2018 versions are far from cheap. 2014 are better choice for FMX.

[hsvandrew 23]

On 12/21/2018 at 2:48 AM, Yaron said:

But how do you apply it to use with Delphi which in the docs says that the PAserver needs to be in a local network?

 

Is there some help/docs on Delphi integration with such services for iOS development?

You simply need the hosting provider to allow you to VPN to the cloud network running the Mac.

However, if you want to make a good iOS app you'll need to do your testing on a real device: you just can't get the 'feel' of an app without touching it.

If you want to develop cheaply for iOS you would be using Xcode + HTML + JS or similar. As you've already paid a huge amount of money for Delphi, a Mac should be somewhat affordable.